While
previous installments have centered on epic quests, Final Fantasy VIII
shows a little of the tender side of Square as the game is very
character driven. The epic quest is still there, but the way the story
is delivered it’s the characters that take center stage. Between
the story, the beautiful graphics, music score, and the insanely
enthralling card game mini-game, Final Fantasy VIII does the series
proud.

Earlier
Final Fantasies have been very character driven, whether with Celes,
Sabin, Edgar, and the gang in Final Fantasy VI, or the relationship
between Rosa and Cecil in Final Fantasy IV. Final Fantasy VIII, however,
has by far the most fleshed out cast of characters of any Final Fantasy.
Rinoa’s feistiness and flirting with Squall are very endearing, and
Squall’s solitary, socially awkward persona is delivered exceptionally
well. Even Sophite, Zell, and the rest of the cast have been masterfully
molded. The way the overlaying story that fuels the game’s quest,
trying to stop a power hungry sorceress, it actually works as a
mechanism to further flesh out the characters as the experiences on
their journey help them grow as people.

Just
as appealing as the story is the game’s visuals. The in-game graphics
are splendid with all sorts of little details added to spruce things up.
The design of the environments is a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy, much
like the game’s predecessors, and the character and monster design is
very nice. The mix of monsters is very fresh with strange mechanical
thingies and beasts of all sorts. During battle there are several times
when the lighting effects are dazzling. When drawing magic from an enemy
there are very nice streams of energy flowing across the screen. The
more powerful spells also go for the ooo-and-ahh factor with some flashy
animation and lights. When characters do their Limit Break attacks there
are some very snazzy moves to be seen; Squall’s are especially cool.
Of course we’ve now come to expect some jaw-dropping CG cutscenes in
our Square games, and Final Fantasy VIII has absolutely incredible
scenes. It seems like every single time we think that the Playstation
has been pushed to its graphical limit Square says, "Not so
fast!" and cranks the graphics setting up ten fold. The sheer level
of detail in the CG cutscenes is amazing, as the characters look almost
life like-like and the animation is very smooth and realistic. What is
really interesting about the cutscenes is that they are combined with in
game scenes sometimes, one such instance being during an enormous battle
where the backgrounds are cutscenes of soldiers fighting while in the
foreground the main characters are moving about.

The
battles themselves are similar to Final Fantasy VII is their overall
scheme, but the way magic and summoning spells are performed has been
altered. Instead of using materia or learning spells, party members must
"Draw" magic from either their opponents or from Draw Points
throughout the game. Once drawn players can either choose to store the
spells or cast them right away. This does a good job of adding strategy
to the battles, as players will have to keep track of what magic they
have and try and keep a well-rounded stock on hand. Summoning gives
players the ability to once again call powerful monsters into battle,
but this time while awaiting their arrival the character’s hit points
are replaced with the monster being summoned. This can potentially lead
to a monster running out of hit points and being unavailable until
healed. Again there are some very flashy animation sequences as the
summoning gets underway, but players can mash away on a button when
prompted to do so in order to increase the power of the attack (once the
beast being summoned has learned Boost). Be that as it may the summoning
does wear thin after having seen this or that particular beast
thousands upon thousands of times. The summonable monsters also gain
experience from combat and can learn new abilities that can be used in
combat or in the world map.

Magic also can
be used to modify characters through the game’s Junction ability. Here
players attach different spells that the characters have to different
aspects of that person. This can be used to heighten defense against
fire, improve attacks and so on. For those who like to have the ability
to do some real hands-on tweaking of their characters, Junction can be
really interesting.

But
what about the music? Fantastic of course. Nobuo Uematsu has done a
masterful job of the music. It has a more surreal feel to it than the
music in Final Fantasy VII and it is a lot more sweeping, which does a
great job of complementing the emotional ups and downs of the characters
of the game.

And
if you like mini-games there’s a card battling game included.
Throughout the game the party will sometimes get cards included in the
booty won after battles, as well as freebies from the locals. These are
used in a Pokemon sort of way where a card is bet before the battle
begins (often a rare card), then after winning that card is part of your
collection. The AI in these battles is extremely good so players will
have to think long and hard about their moves, especially when they have
an extremely rare card on the line. This game is so good that it could
almost stand on its own.

Final
Fantasy VIII does a great job of adding some new gameplay features to
the series with Junctions and the modifications to magic use and
summoning. Coupled with great visuals and music, as well as an amazing
cast of characters and story and this game’s fantastic.